Hampton police shooting in 2012 case ruled justified

HAMPTON — After Carla Williams was beaten, stabbed, burned and shot in April 2012, she managed to make it outside her house on Ravenscoft Lane.

Before collapsing in the driveway, she saw two police officers walking toward her.

"Help — my husband is trying to kill me," she screamed.

Williams later told medics that her grandmother and daughter were both inside the home — dead. Her 1-year-old daughter's throat had been slit. Williams' grandmother had been beaten to death.

Williams died shortly after at a local hospital.

Her husband, Travis Williams, killed them, according to police, who shot and killed him as he stood armed on the burning roof of their two-story home.

The tragic details of the Williams family's deaths were described in a letter by Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Anton Bell, clearing the police officers of any wrongdoing in Travis Williams' death.

"After an examination of the facts in this case and the relevant law, it is my opinion that the officers acted in a justifiable manner," Bell wrote.

Carla Williams, 38, was killed April 18, along with her daughter Tori and grandmother, 76-year-old Katie Frye.

Carla Williams was an instructional supervisor for the English as a Second Language program in the Newport News school system. At a memorial at Denbigh High School held after her death, co-workers said Williams uplifted others through small yet consistent gestures, like sending get-well cards or making a phone call to check on someone. Speakers talked about her dedication to making sure ESL students didn't feel like outsiders and were treated fairly.

"Carla Williams will always be my teacher, my friend, my mother, my role model," former student Nydia Angelis Valdez said at the memorial. "Gone, but never forgotten."

The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office got involved with the case after the shooting to determine whether police officers were justified in shooting Travis Williams. Two officers, D. Freeman and L. Hicklin, opened fire during the incident, Bell wrote.

According to Bell's letter, a neighbor called police at 3:49 a.m. and said she had heard screaming and saw a man "dragging someone into the house."

When authorities arrived at Ravenscroft Lane, they found 38-year-old Travis Williams standing on the porch roof of the burning home with a handgun, according to police. Initially police said Williams died as a result of exchanging gunfire with them, though the report does not indicate that Travis Williams opened fire during the incident.

According to Bell's letter, Travis Williams stood with a handgun on the roof as officers told him to drop his weapon. After their commands, Williams "began to travel across the roof still armed with the handgun and partially concealed by smoke," Bell wrote.

Officers tried talking to Williams telling him to remain unarmed and descend the roof. Next, firemen retrieved a ground ladder and approached the roof of the home that was still ablaze.

"When the ladder touched the roof, Mr. Williams moved towards the firearm and began a reaching motion," Bell wrote. "As a result, officers responded to this imminent threat by discharging their firearms with the intent to defend themselves and the firemen."

"In the present case, there was overwhelming evidence to show that Mr. Williams was an immediate threat to both law enforcement and the firemen present," Bell wrote.

Travis Williams was struck several times and collapsed on the roof. He died from a gunshot wound to the back, according to the letter.

The day before their deaths, a judge had awarded Carla Williams custody of Tori. She had an active protective order against her husband. The protective order stemmed from Travis Williams attacking his wife Jan. 5, 2012, according to court documents.